Presentation by Jackie Gerstein for integrating the flipped classroom approach in higher education with a focus on experiential learning with videos and other content supporting not driving the instruction.

Walk into any natural history museum or zoo, and you will notice placards that provide information about the exhibits. These are a form of augmented reality that we take so much for granted that we don't typically distinguish them as anything other than reality. With our new ability to carry information in our pockets, we are suddenly much more aware of that augmentation, making it feel like something new. Certainly, its ubiquity is new, but it draws much from those exhibit notices, and from books and items such as baseball cards. Incorporating fun instant info into the learning process can help energize that process, regardless of whether it's done through new technology or old.

Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck has become something of a cult figure in education and parenting circles. Her research into boosting student motivation has spawned a mini industry of consultants, sold more than a million books and changed the way that many adults praise children. Dweck believes too many students are hobbled by the belief that intelligence …

Praising effort alone

Many parents and teachers have interpreted Dweck’s work to mean that they should praise a child’s effort, such as “I’m proud that you tried really hard,” or “I see how much effort you put into this.” Or teachers sometimes give A’s on assignments if a child has attempted all of the questions, regardless of whether the answers are good or not.

“It’s like the consolation prize. ‘Oh, at least you worked hard,'” said Dweck. “What if they didn’t make progress or they didn’t learn?”

Praising effort alone, she says, is useless when the child is getting everything wrong and not making progress. Either students will feel misled when they are eventually confronted with the reality of their low achievement, or the hollow praise will convey adults’ low expectations for them.

Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck has become something of a cult figure in education and parenting circles. Her research into boosting student motivation has spawned a mini industry of consultants, sold more than a million books and changed the way that many adults praise children. Dweck believes too many students are hobbled by the belief that intelligence …

Praising effort alone

Many parents and teachers have interpreted Dweck’s work to mean that they should praise a child’s effort, such as “I’m proud that you tried really hard,” or “I see how much effort you put into this.” Or teachers sometimes give A’s on assignments if a child has attempted all of the questions, regardless of whether the answers are good or not.

“It’s like the consolation prize. ‘Oh, at least you worked hard,'” said Dweck. “What if they didn’t make progress or they didn’t learn?”

Praising effort alone, she says, is useless when the child is getting everything wrong and not making progress. Either students will feel misled when they are eventually confronted with the reality of their low achievement, or the hollow praise will convey adults’ low expectations for them.

Implementation with fidelity is important when new strategies from research comes to the classroom. We often "cherry-pick" what we feel comfortable with but it is necessary to "lean in" and implement as intended by the author or researcher. Be committed to self-reflection and evaluation of the progress you see in students. Adjust, refine and commit to improving your execution.

"The fight for a living wage has been a hot-button issue over the past 5 years and will certainly be a talking point in upcoming presidential elections. In a time when college enrollment is booming and college tuition is at an all-time high, the prospect of getting an upper-level degree and working at a college or university would seem like a sure bet for anyone. And yet, in 2015, a PhD does not guarantee a great living. In fact, it doesn't guarantee you will be able to get by at all."

Pamela D Lloyd's insight:

Education in the US is becoming increasingly costly for students, but providing fewer and smaller benefits for many graduates. This is especially true for those whose dream is to teach at the college level, but who are unable to get a full-time teaching position. According to the article, "adjunct professors make up more than 51 percent of teaching faculty at colleges in the United States, across all levels (community colleges, research universities, etc.)." Many adjuncts live at or below the poverty level, many take on other jobs in order to earn enough to live on, and many wind up on government assistance, despite their high level of education and their hard work. But, this doesn't only effect the adjuncts and their families. "With so much additional responsibility to survive, many adjuncts can't hold regular office hours at any of the campuses they teach. This comes at a huge disadvantage to their students who may need extra help, one-on-one tutoring, or to talk about the course. Still, colleges insist that the current model is the best way to serve its students. But the truth couldn't be any more clear: it's strictly about the money."

Rethinking recent “common sense” claims about technology as distraction in the classroom.

Pamela D Lloyd's insight:

There are many claims that new technological tools are harmful to learning, but are those claims valid? Do students really learn more poorly when they take notes on a laptop than when they do so by hand? Michael Oman-Reagan says no, and identifies flaws in anti-technology research. He points, instead, to the need to leverage students' tool use in the classroom, while teaching them critical thinking skills that will support their learning regardless of which tools they use because effective use of technology is a necessary skill in today's world and the world of the future.

I agree with Pamela D Lloyd when she writes: "There are many claims that new technological tools are harmful to learning, but are those claims valid? Do students really learn more poorly when they take notes on a laptop than when they do so by hand? Michael Oman-Reagan says no, and identifies flaws in anti-technology research. He points, instead, to the need to leverage students' tool use in the classroom, while teaching them critical thinking skills that will support their learning regardless of which tools they use because effective use of technology is a necessary skill in today's world and the world of the future." http://www.scoop.it/t/learning-education-and-neuroscience

T.H.E. Journal asked educators for the most creative storytelling apps available, and we did a little digging on our own, too. The tools and apps we found turn students into novelists, artists, and moviemakers with each tool bringing its own powerful mechanism for transforming the traditional narrative--both inside and outside the classroom...

This article give examples of how Voice Thread, Diigo, Scoop.It, Instagram, Pinterest, and Feedly can be used to enhance teaching and learning. The article wraps up with three key benefits of using social media in the classroom.

These teachers see the internet and digital technologies such as social networking sites, cell phones and texting, generally facilitating teens’ personal expression and creativity, broadening the audience for their written material, and encouraging teens to write more often in more formats than may have been the case in prior generations. At the same time, they describe the unique challenges of teaching writing in the digital age, including the “creep” of informal style into formal writing assignments and the need to better educate students about issues such as plagiarism and fair use.

This study provides insight into the issues teachers see, positive and negative, regarding the ways in which digital tools impact student writing. Overall, they see many benefits, but there are specific areas of concern.

The highest-level executive thinking, making connections, and "aha" moments of insight and creative innovation are more likely to occur in an atmosphere of what Alfie Kohn calls exuberant discovery, where students of all ages retain that kindergarten enthusiasm of embracing each day with the joy of learning.

According to a report out of the Center for American Progress, inequitable per-pupil spending perpetuated by regressive state and local school-finance systems remains cause for concern in U.S. public schools, despite state aid formulas designed to work to the contrary.

New research shows it’s possible to pick up some of the signs of dyslexia in the brain even before kids learn to read. And this earlier identification may start to substantially influence how parents, educators and clinicians tackle the disorder.

Pamela D Lloyd's insight:

From the article: "Using cutting-edge MRI technology, the researchers are able to pinpoint a specific neural pathway, a white matter tract in the brain’s left hemisphere that appears to be related to dyslexia: It’s called the arcuate fasciculus."

Dyslexia is the consequence of neurological functions that work differently in some people. It can be predicted long before we usually start to teach kids to read, and appropriate early intervention can help to minimize disruption to the reading process.

By busting the learning styles myth, we hope to help teachers focus on matching instruction with the content and learning goals, not learning styles.

Pamela D Lloyd's insight:

Teachers and other learning professionals are often taught about learning styles. In fact, learning styles may even be a required part of continuing education practices. The training I received as a teacher and as a tutor made learning styles a requirement and encouraged me to evaluate student learning preferences. This would be great if the science backed up the idea that matching instruction techniques to learning styles actually improves learning, but the sad truth of the matter is that the science tells us that learning styles are irrelevant when it comes to how much students actually learn. What will help maximize learning? Helping students understand concepts when they are working with conceptual materials, helping them improve memory skills when working with material that simply needs to be remembered, and creating learning environments that encourage student engagement with learning. This last point is the most important because students learn best when they want to learn.

Welcome news for future stroke sufferers and their families. My mother suffered a massive stroke from which she never fully recovered, making the last ten years of her life difficult ones. I sincerely hope that the prospects for recovery will improve.

There's a lot of skepticism about whether or not MOOCs are "disrupting" higher education, but can they offer important learning opportunities for the institutions themselves?

Pamela D Lloyd's insight:

The MOOC courses I've tried relied way too heavily on lectures, quizzes, and posting short essays in forums to be critiqued by students who often showed a distinct lack of understanding of the material. The courses didn't teach anything about active learning, except how not to engage students. They are not a direction I want to see used as a model for the future of education.

Math is invisible. Unlike physics, chemistry, and biology we can't see it, smell it, or even directly observe it in the universe. And so that has made a lot ...

Pamela D Lloyd's insight:

Math is extremely useful, but is it real, or is it simply a figment of the human imagination? This fast, fun, smart video is an episode of PBS's Idea Channel. It's also part of the 10 Unanswered Science Questions series. There's lots of food for thought here, entertainingly introduced by host Mike Rugnetta, and this could easily be used in a classroom to spark discussion about math, science, or the philosophy of those fields.

The culmination of my quest for more powerful learning grounded in theory and research came when recently I conducted an experiment in pushing constructionism into the digital age.

Constructionism is based on two types of construction. First, it asserts that learning is an active process, in which people actively construct knowledge from their experience in the world. People don’t get ideas; they make them. This aspect of construction comes from the constructivist theory of knowledge development by Jean Piaget. To Piaget’s concept, Papert added another type of construction, arguing that people construct new knowledge with particular effectiveness when they are engaged in constructing personally meaningful products.

Imagine my surprise and joy when I realized that I had arrived at constructionism prior to knowing that such a theory even existed. I believe that thousands of other educators are unknowingly working within the constructionist paradigm as well. Although many within the Maker movement are aware that it has it’s roots in constructionism, the movement is gaining impressive momentum without the majority of Makers realizing that there is a strong theoretical foundation behind their work.

After I came to understand this connection between my practices and the supporting theoretical framework I was better able to focus and refine my practice. Even more importantly, I felt more confident and powerful in forging ahead with further experiments in the learning situations I design for my learners.

"Education is in need of some changes. If we eliminate grades, we make room for many important shifts that must occur in our current climate. It's time to shift the mindset; teachers, throw out grades.

Pamela D Lloyd's insight:

"Teachers, students and higher educational systems need to start valuing learning and progress over points if we want our students to be truly career and college ready."

I can't agree more. The focus of education needs to be on learning, not on grades.

Textbooks and other student reading material are increasingly going digital, but can students still interact with the text in ways that promote deep reading?

Pamela D Lloyd's insight:

"While ever more schools adopt textbooks and student reading materials to digital readers like iPads and Chromebooks, some recent research suggests students may comprehend more from reading print."

This examination of how middle school students respond to and work with digital textbooks addresses questions that are applicable to learners at all levels of instruction. Digital devices have many benefits, but they just don't provide the same level of interaction that physical books do. The physical process of interacting with a physical book, including the ability to write in the margins, is important when it comes to getting the most out of reading. Digital books just can't offer that, yet.

However, digital reading specialists are working on tools and strategies that will help to improve deep learning from digital materials. For example, students who are familiar with and use annotation apps within their textbooks may actually benefit from working with digital materials, since students are generally discouraged from writing in or marking up their physical textbooks.

In the meantime, there's a place for both physical and digital books in today's classrooms.

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